Universal joint.



J. WITTEMANDL UNIVERSALJ'OINT,

APPLICATION FILED FEB.9,19\4.

. y STATES PATENT orEieE.

.IoHN WITIEMANN, or MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN. AssIGNoR or ONE-THIRD ToFREDERICK s. HUNT, E MILWAUKEE, WIscoNsIN.

UNIVERSAL JOINT.

Sliecication of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2t), 1917.

Apiilicaton filed February 9, 1914. Serial No. 817.416'.

I ot which thv Jfollowing: is a desvliption. rel'- vrvnvv living;V hadtothe avi-onipan \'in er draw- A lill-TS, ,Yhivh al a part ot'V thisspvvilieation.

rl`his invention rvlatvs to iinprovvnivnts in universal joints. t

lt is onv ot' thv ohjvt'ts of thv prvsvnt invention to provitlv aunivvrsal joint in whivh the nsv ol4 pivot holtsI or pins is'vliniinatvtl J and a larg'v arva ot' hvarln;r Hurtavv is providvtl linlivu thvrvot` \\'hivh is adapted to `eliminatetrietion and rvtluev wearto a niiniinunl.

y t'urthvr ohjvvt ot' thv invention is to provitlv a universal :ointvonstrlu-tvtl to per- -lnit an vntlwisv nlovvinvnt ot' onv or hothvonnvrtvtl invinhvrs `with relation to each othvr. 4 l fnrthvr ohjvvt otthv inrvntion is to provide a luni\'vrsal joint. iii 'hivh. thv orkingrparts may he vasily-livpt provided with a luhrivant and protvvt'vd tronidust.

lith thv ahovv antl'othvr ohjvvts in View7 thv. in.\vntion rvlatvs tothv improved universa-l joint and itsl parts and eoinhinations as svt.t'orth Vin thv claims, and all equivalvnts thvrvot';

ln thv avvoinpanying drawing*r in which thtI saine rvl'vrvnrvrhal'arftvrs indicate the saine parts' in all ot' thv. rivws:

'Iltigurv l is a vvl'tit-.al central longitudinal svi-,tional \'iv-\\'ot' thv improved universal joint. taken on line 1 1 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 2 isa longitudinal svt-.tional View taken on linv QH?) ot Fig. twith the parts rv.\'ol\'vl an vig'hth turn til-om the position shown inFig. 1 and one of the shafts invlinvd ilo\\f'n\var ll \f';

Fig. Il is a Isimilar vivw thereof with the shaft shown in an int-linedposition;

Fig. 4 is a transvvrse sei-.tional view thereof taken on line 4 1 ofFig. 1; and

Fig'. 5 isa detail view of one ot the curved blocks. R't'erring tothedrawingr ythe numeral 8 indicates the driving shaft, 9 the driven shaftand l() the coupling ineniher or joint vonnvvtingr thv two together. Thecoupling lnvinher 1t) vouhl. itl desired, .he it'ornied in onv pivrv hutJfor convenience of manufaeturv is lornivil in thi-vv parts, andcomprises a groovvtl intvrinvtliat'v part 11, a huh part 1; und a vappart l. the' three parts heing .avvio-vtr l'aslvnvtl tn fvthvr hy holtsand nuts l-l. l`hv huh portion l2 is adapted t0 he inountvtl on thvdrive shaft S and is keyed or holtvtl thvrvtt` in thv usual manner tovtorni a tight foiniwtionj.,

l`hv inner portion ote the nivdial nieniher lo surrounding' thv opvninglor hoi-e153 is provitlvtl with rvvvssvs or slots 16 extending throughthe nivnihvr in lines parallel with the horv whirh are adapted toreceive i'our hearing nivnihvrs 1T therein. The bearing nivnihvrs arvpositioned dianietrically opposite varh other in pairs and each pairvxtvnds in a planv at right angles t0 the othvr pair and are heldagainst. endwise niorvinvnt: h v thv innvr tat-.vs ot' the huh invmhvrl2 and the eap invinher 13 which :torni Hhouhlvrslt covering; portionsof the ends oi' the slots. 'lhe inner faces 19 of the hearing' nlvinhvrsarv curved in a plane mrallvl with thv hore ot? the medial memier and onthv radiusl ot a circle whose center is voinviilvnt with the axis of theshaftft) which vxtvnds into thv. bore of said member.

'l`hv vul-vvd portions of the hearing mein hvrs v xtvntl radiallyinwardly beyond the bore l5 oi? the. invtlial invinhvr and in connectionwith thv inner side walls 20 of said medial nivnlhvr torni povkvts 21 toreceive segmental hvy hlovks 22 mounted therein. The outer vur\'v l portions ot' the hlovks are of the same radius as thv, vurved portions ot'the hearing` invinhvrs and are of a width to snugly fit.- hvtwvvn thvLiner side walls of the pockets 2l. The inner faces 23 of the segmentalhlovks are itat and the inner side corner vde'vs ot adjacent blocksjust'clear each other to permit thv blocks in the saine plane to rook inpairs.

'lhe inner faces of the segmental blocks of the segmental blocks arebeveledlnd tapered from a medial point outwardly at an angle to permitthe rocking movement of the blocks when the driven shaft is swung to anangle diagonally between the blocks as shown ii F 1g. 2 of the drawni'g-The cap 13 is provided With a bore 13- of suilicient size to permit theuniversal oscillation of the driven shaft and a grooved -hub portion 24of said cap is adapted to A a lubricant (not shown) within the chamber27 of the coupling and to keep the dust thereout.

A screw plug 28 is provided for filling the chamber with a lubricant.

In use the segmental blocks freely rock in their sockets when the twoshafts are axially at an angle with relation to each other and arerotated and the driven shaft is also free 'to slide longitudinallybetween the blocks. As the radius of' the segmental blocks is coincidentwith the axis of the driven shaft the blocks in rocking in their socketsby the angular movement of the driving shaft will slide longitudinallyon said shaft. and with relation toeach other as shown in Fig. 4 inorder to preserve the same dimension of the bore at all angles ofmovement of the shaft within the range of the coupling.

While ther bearing blocks are shown as separate parts it is to be'understood that they may be formed integral with the medial memberwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the universal jointis of lvery simple construction and the parts are provided withcomparatively large bearing surfaces and are Well adapted forthe'purpose desii'ed.

` lVhat I claim as my invention is:

1. A universal joint, comprising a cou-- pling member having a bore anda plurality of recesses in the portion of the coupling surrounding thebore, the recesses each having a. curved outer end wall and flat sidewalls, segmental blocks fitting within said recesses and having innerflat faces to form a rectangular supplemental bore, and a shaft having afiattened end portion which slidably fits within the supplemental bore,said blocks locking the parts rotatively together and independentlyslidably engaging the shaft. v l

2. A universal joint, comprising a coupling member having a bore and 'a'plurality of recesses in the portioin of' the coupling surrounding thebore, the recesses each having a curved outer Wall on the radius of acircle whose center-is coincident with the axis of thelcouplingandfparslllel side Walls, segmental blocks fitting within the recessesand having inner flat faces to form a rectangular supplemental bore, anda shaft having a rectangular end portion which slidably fits within thesupplemental bore and is engaged on all its side faces by the segmentalblocks, said blocks locking the parts rotatively together andindependently slidably engaging the shaft.

3. A universal joint, comprising a coupling member having a bore and aplurality of recesses surrounding the bore, said recesses being curvedin a plane parallel to the bore and on the radius of a circle whosecenter is coincident with the axis of the coupling, segmental blockshaving flat side portions which closely fit the side walls of therecesses-rand curved' portions which fit the curved walls of therecesses, said blocks also havin flat inner faces which form arectangiia-r bore within the coupling, and a shaft having a flattened end portionwhich extends into the rectangular bore and is closely engaged on all ofits side faces by the inner faces of the segmental blocks.

4. A universal joint, comprising a coupling member having a bore and aplurality 'of recesses diainetrically oppositely positioned in pairssurrounding the bore, said recesses being curved in a direction on theradius of a circle whose center is coincident with the axis of thecoupling in a plane parallel tothe bore and having parallel side walls,segmental blocks'having parallel sides and curved outer surfacespositioned within and closely fitting the walls of the recesses, saidblocks also having flat inner faces which form a rectangularsupplemental boi'e within the couplingand ashaft having a rectangularend portion'which extends into the rectangular bore and is slidablyengaged on all of its side faces by the inner faces of the blocks.

5. universal joint, comprising a coupling member having a bore and a:plurality of recesses diainetrically oppositely positioned in pairssurrounding the bore, said recesses being curved in a direction on theradius of a circle whose center is coincident with the axis of theAcoupling in a plane parallel to the bore and having parallel side walls;segmental blocks having parallel sides and curved outer surfacespositioned within and closely fitting the walls of the recesses, saidblocks also having flat inner faces which formA a rectangularvsupplemental bore Within thev coupling, aI shaft `having a rectangularend ortion which 'extends into the rectangularV )ore and is slidablyengaged on all of itsside faces by the inner faces ofthe blocks; and aflexible closure closing the open portion of the bore of the couplingmember between the said niember and the shaft.

6; A universal joint, comprising a coupling member having a bore and aplurality of slots in the portion of the. member surrounding the bore,bearingmembers fitting 4within said slots and having theirl inner facescurved in a direction on the 'adius of a circle whose center iscoincident with they axis of' the coupling in a plane parallel to thebore, the said curved portions and the side walls of the slots of thecoupling mein-` berl forming recesses, segmental blocks tit-` tingwithin said recessesv and having iat inner .faces which forni arectangular snppleineiital bore within the coupling. and a shaft havinga rectangular end portion which extends into the rectangular bore and isslidably engaged on all of its side faces by tlie innerl faces -ot' theblocks. '7L A universal joint, comprising a conpling member formed ot' ahub portion and a cap portion and an intermediate portion, the cap andintermediate portions being provided with bores and the intermediatepoi-- tion also beingr provided with a plurality of slots surroundingthe bore, means i'or connecting the three portions together. bearingmembers mounted within the slots and 'interposed between the hub and cappor- 2'5`:v

ti,tliefinner faces of said bearingr niembers being curved in' `adirection on the radius of a circle whose center is coincident with theaxis of the coupling member in a plalie parallel with the bore, the saidcurved portions and the side walls of the slots of the coupling memberforming recesses, segmental blocks fitting within said recesses -andhaving flat inner faces which form a rectangular supplemental borewithin the coupling, and a shatt having a rectangular end portion whichextends into the rectantion also being provided with a plurality o'fslots surrounding the bore, means i'or connecting the three portionstogether, bearing members mounted within the slots and iiitei'posedbetween the hubfaiid cap portions. the inner faces ol said bearing`members be- ,ing curved in a direction on the radius ol' aA circle whosecenter is coincident willi-.the axis ot the coupling member in aplaneparallel with the bore` the said curi-'ed portions and the side-wallsol' the slots ol the coui'iliiig nieiiibcr forming recesses`segiiientalA blocks fitting iwithin said recesses and haring tlat innerfaces which form a rectangular ysupplemental bore' within the coupling.a sliat't haring a rectangular end v portion which extends into therectangular bore and slidably engages the inner faces ot 'the blocks.and a flexible closure closing the open portion of'the bore ot' thecoupling nieniber between the said ineniber and the shaft.

In testimony whereof` l illix my signature, in presence ot' twowitnesses. l

